THE state government has refused to commit to completing Princes Freeway access at Sneydes Road in Point Cook before businesses and residents begin moving into two new suburbs announced yesterday.
The government has announced it will build a diamond interchange at Sneydes Road as part of the development of new suburbs at Werribee east and Point Cook west.
The $40 million interchange will be funded through land sales in the areas. However, Premier Ted Baillieu said freeway access would not be completed until the area started to develop.
“We would hope to get it commenced next year but obviously any interchange of that size will take some time to get up and running.
“The important thing is to make provision for the infrastructure and find a source of funding for it . . . these things run in parallel.”
In February, Wyndham Council told Planning Minister Matthew Guy and the Growth Areas Authority it would not support the Point Cook west development until it was confirmed the interchange would be built before residents moved in. Yesterday, mayor Heather Marcus said the council would continue to lobby the government to complete the interchange before adding 23,000 new residents.
“We want to make sure we get the infrastructure before the housing comes because this is what has come through loud and clear from our residents.
“We will be pushing this government to make sure we’ve got the infrastructure coming just slightly before the housing.”
Mr Baillieu also refused to commit to improving Wyndham’s public transport before the new suburbs were developed. He said a potential new train station between Werribee and Hoppers Crossing had been flagged but would not be delivered until the area had been developed.
Tarneit Labor MP Tim Pallas said money from land sales must be reinvested into infrastructure. “The state government can’t asset strip, sell the land and create an infrastructure deficit. There has to be a commitment that they won’t profiteer from the community.”
